Urinary incontinence common in women

Maintaining the work-life balance can take a toll on women’s health. In fact, research has found that stress can lower the immune system of the body, leading to many health problems. Stress urinary incontinence or SUI is one such disease that is commonly found in women.

SUI is the involuntary leakage of urine during physical activities like sneezing, coughing, walking, running or jumping. SUI is one of the most common types of urinary incontinence with varying severity seen in one in four women, generally after the age of 30.

Causes

Loss of pelvic floor muscle support to the urethra leads to stress urinary incontinence. And this loss of support could be due to either one of these: ageing, pregnancy, childbirth, genetic factors and stresses on the pelvic floor caused by a chronic cough, obesity and repetitive heavy lifting.

Treatment

• Pelvic floor exercises: SUI-affected women are trained in pelvic floor exercises. Some doctors also recommend the use of an electrical stimulator to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles.
• Gold-standard surgery: In gold-standard surgery, a mesh tape is placed under the urethra like a sling to provide support and bring it back to its natural position.

(The author is a urogynecology specialist at SPARSH Hospital)